TAKING PART – Hyannis Fire Chief Harold Brunelle, center, doesn’t seem to mind waiting in line to sign up for the Voices of the Village meeting at Hyannis West Elementary School April 26.

Packed community meeting eager to talk, act

Close to 300 residents and friends of Hyannis turned out April 26 to talk about what’s working and what isn’t in the Cape’s urban village, and a good number stayed on afterward to work on solutions.

“It was very successful in terms of numbers,” Greater Hyannis Civic Association President Tony Pelletier said as the Hyannis West Elementary School emptied. The true proof of success, he said, would be the work of five task forces set up that night that will report on their progress at another open meeting May 17.

Moderator Deb Krau, the association’s vice president, began by tapping villagers’ enthusiasm for Hyannis, asking them to call out its virtues. The youth and community center, beaches, schools, diversity, business center, restaurants, harbor and ‘the wonderful people” were among the shout-outs.

“it doesn’t pretend to be a quaint fishing village,” one wag observed, drawing a big laugh.

The listing went on for a long time until Krau said, somewhat tongue in cheek, “So why is anybody printing anything bad about us, with all these wonderful things?” That was her cue to ask about challenges, “the issues that are keeping us from fully enjoying everything you’ve talked about.”

As they had with the pluses, the association’s Laura Cronin and Elizabeth Wurbain of the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District scrambled to write down all the ideas. Someone touted state Rep. Demetrius Atsalis’ call for a drug dealer registry. A man asked for a dedicated line at police HQ on which to report suspected dealers, including plate numbers. Someone else called for increased police surveillance in areas of concern.

“Clearly the police are key to solving this,” Krau said, “and you have to understand what’s happening to the town budget.”

“Tougher sentences” came the call, followed by “bounty hunters!” Others called for better screening of tenants, and better and earlier drug education in schools.

Abusive tenants and absentee landlords emerged as dual concerns for villagers who strive to keep their neighborhoods intact. Sea Street Market owner Jen Cullum said “vigilance and zero tolerance” are the best weapons in a community’s arsenal, and urged residents to call the police any time they see trouble brewing.

Milt Berglund said the town needs to make sure that all rentals are registered annually and that regulations are enforced. Tom Bernardo, community liaison for Rep. Atsalis, said that a California law that holds landlords accountable for certain activities of their tenants, to the point of allowing seizure of properties, may offer an example for Barnstable.

By evening’s end, those who wanted to take an extra step toward civic engagement – and it was well more than a handful – broke into small groups to work on strategies for addressing drugs and crime; landlords, tenants and regulatory enforcement; mentoring the next generation; marketing Hyannis; and strengthening neighborhoods.

Complimenting the crowd for a “great turnout,” John Crow of the Osterville Village Association noted that his group has 867 members [Krau said Greater Hyannis has 144]. “You should all join it,” he said.

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